Some advice for a desperate Aussie!

[AuS90]

Help!

I'm a 21 year old girl living here in Buenos Aires with my Colombian boyfriend. I was here for a period of time last year and returned 2 months ago. My boyfriend convinced me that I would be able to find work here if I brought over the right documentation (Police Background Check, Degree.. both apostille stamped etc) but I'm starting to feel my spirit breaking. In total I have been living in South America (have been back to Aus twice in between) for 14 months and I'm really starting to feel desperate.

The few job opportunities I've been lucky enough to receive (whether that was last year looking for bar/cafe work from Craigslist) or now, I feel I have been taken advantage to an extent of - being told I would be paid a certain amount and then having to leave because it turns out they are not going to pay up or circumstances were in fact very different.. I have a degree in Public Relations and have been applying left-right and center on Bumeran and Zonajobs with no luck in 2 months - not one single person has called for an interview.. Does anyone have any advice?? I'm not even specifically looking for something in PR.. could be anything Business related..

Alongside this I'm also looking for any expats who are staying in Buenos Aires for the long-term. I met some great people when I got here through my Spanish school and sadly the majority have all moved on travelling or have gone back to their own countries and the others will be leaving soon, so if anyone is interested in meeting up for a coffee/beer and practicing Spanish.. please let me know!!

I really want to make it work here in Argentina.. despite the overwhelming amounts of frustrations I come across, I also love this city.. its vibrant life, beautiful streets, expressive people..

I live in Palermo.. any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[scottlyon]

There's a jobs section on the site here which may be of use to you.

Being 21 doesn't give you the gift of experience sadly, but I'm certain that if you start in a position and show your abilities you will rise up to the level which suits you. Perhaps working with a non-profit organisation for a while to gain some elements for your resume might make you more 'pitchable' for interviews. Maybe au-pairing will help you integrate with social circles which could benefit you.

Good luck with it all!

 

[Crema Americana]

Have you applied and received temporary or permanent residency yet? It's very difficult to land a job if you're a foreigner with no papers. It can be done of course, but your options are severely limited despite the culture of hiring under the table. Having papers also gives you legal recourse in case employers try to take advantage, which unfortunately is all too common when working illegally. It does take time though and can be frustrating to jump through all the hoops. I take it you know or are studying Spanish since that should help you greatly.

I don't find the job market here to be particularly great... the employment figures don't look bad, but it's really not that easy for anyone to find work (or work that you'd want to do and pays decent enough to live.)

All I can suggest is to keep looking and eventually something should come up!

 

[Crema Americana]

I can't seem to be able to edit my post, but just wanted to add Clarin's job search site. http://www.empleos.clarin.com/Avisos/Trabajo/

 

[StuckLikeGlue]

Hi AuS90, I'm a 23 year old living here with my Argentine boyfriend and am kind of in the same boat as you (my boyfriend has been looking for a job forever too without luck, so I can definitely sympathize!!) I'd love to meet up sometime, it's been tough to make friends here for me too; it seems like most people our age never stick around! I'm here without plans to leave anytime soon, send me a PM or FB friend me if you want to meet up Maybe we can even help each other find real jobs!!

Suerte,

Perri

 

[ElQueso]

What you describe is exactly the thing I've seen my family go through as they try to find and work jobs in Argentina. They are foreigners too, often at the bottom rung of society unfortunately, being Paraguayan. They also all have their residencies and have had these issues while working in the white as well as under probationary status working towards getting nto the white.

A prime example is my older sister-in-law. She studied for two years at a good cooking school here in Buenos Aires. She graduated at the top of her class and had a number of job offers out of school. That was two years ago that she graduated and she has worked for a number of restaurants, sandwhich shops, cafes, etc. She has prepped food, been a sous chef and was recently the head day chef at a strange restaurant in a tower in Puerto Madero that closed recently.

Every single job she's had has been filled with problems similar to the things you mention, Aus90. She's been promised one thing, sometimes worked for free to prove herself, received an offer different than the original with some idiotic rasoning, offered permanent employment that was revoked for something like an old employee coming back, owners not paying when they were supposed to, paying less and promising more later, the workers not receiving pay and refusing to work, etc.

My brothers-in-law and cousins-in-law have had similar experiences when working in construction, chinese and korean supermarkets, and verdulerias.

Other cousins-in-law have worked domestic jobs, jobs at lavanderias.

I don't know if it's the foreigner thing or if that's the way it is in the lower-paying jobs. I don't really know any plain-old white collar, work for a company Argentinos to compare if they have the same level of problems getting and finding a good job.

The Argentinos I know are software developers working contract with a company from the States, or working locally for companies that contract to the States, or working for me. I know a couple of well-to-do accountants who work for themselves. I know a guy who's parents own an auto parts chain and he plays at managing now and then. Or porteros who have cush jobs, or the family down the street that runs a hardware store. Or some of my younger sister-in-laws schoolmates' parents who are established and work for the government, or are executives or managers for big companies.

The economy and business here is coming to a standstill to a certain extent with uncertainty, high prices and extreme market manipulations. I would imagine it's probably tough right now to find higher-paying, training-required jobs.

The ex-pats from the US, Europe and various other places that I know (origins outside of Latin America, say) all are either reasonably wealthy, or have jobs back in the states that allow them to telecommute. I.e., they make their money from, or their money comes from, sources outside of Argentina.

I certainly don't want to be so negative about this. It breaks my heart to see what's happening. I was talking to my wife today about where things are in Argentina. I was trying to get across to her that her family here may be out of jobs with no means of support in another year or so. That's a really scary proposition for them - the only thing they have to return to is poverty in Paraguay with a lack of opportunities for anyone who has no money.

 

[starlucia]

To be honest, I'm always surprised at the number of young Americans/Brits/Aussies who move to BA on tourist visas and assume that they'll immediately land a white-collar job -- despite not having working papers nor speaking the language. Yes, there are a few opportunities (usually multinationals willing to sponsor a work visa, or ex-pat-owned companies), but just like in our home countries, positions that require a college degree and English/Spanish fluency generally go to native-born citizens with those qualifications.

In the meantime, have you thought about using your skill set to do anything entrepreneurial (that doesn't require much overhead or dipping your toes into the waters of Argentine bureaucracy?) For example, I think the successful website Buenos Aires Delivery was started by an ex-pat, and there's an organic farmer who advertises his produce on this site. Others offer freelance services or open small businesses (often catered to the ex-pat community), using the Internet and word-of-mouth as their main sources of advertisement. I think you'll find that in BA, it's often better to think outside the box rather than try to play by their incomprehensible rules

 

[MorganF]

StarLucia: yes you're totally right. And BA Delivery was indeed founded by one of the star expats, el Señor Withers, who frequents this BAExpats joint

Aussie90: StarLucia is totally on the mark here. I'll add that, there's a curious irony: it's so hard for everyone to find a job... yet, for employers (like me), it's shockingly difficult to find good employees. My team here is mostly expats, and actually last week, I just hired yet another expat. I (and people like me) are alllways looking for hard working, competent people. They're really hard to find. But every (American-owned) small and mid-sized (ie, non-bureaucratic) business is always desperately wanting to hire good people. And when you find them, you hold onto them with your life!

morgan

 

[littleba8073]

Hey first of all my heart goes out to you. It took me nearly 2 years here to find a decent stable job. I work for IBM/General Motors. It is in fact a call center BUT it is nothing like the call centers here. Its a million times better. There are 2 tiers, the lower level gets paid less but the higher level (which I am in and certainly with native English they'd send you to eventually) pays decent. It's 3,700 pesos a month, plus double pay for holidays, plus I get 400 pesos more to help pay daycare. Also, I work 9 hours but I finish my work usually in only 3 to 5 hours and we have 1.5 hours of lunch and the rest of the time is spent drinking mate. And if you are an IBM employee, which we all are, and you have a resume that may match another job opportunity within the company you can apply for it. Some of my coworkers have left for tech jobs else where. They are looking for people now, the training is paid, and if you send me your resume I would be more than happy to forward it to you. Plus, I work with an Aussie girl who is staying here on a permanent basis, so you might make a new friend. Best of luck! I was in your position before, it is difficult, just don't give into the desperation! My email is [email protected]

 

[rihornos]

Hello
It may sound naive but if I were you I would make a list of companies send them a letter and a resume telling them why I would like to join that company, sometimes people are curious and who knows.....it did worked for me some years ago.
Reina